


Healing

by kaitlynisamused



Category: Avatar (TV), Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Healing, Post-Agni Kai, Zutara
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-28
Updated: 2017-05-28
Packaged: 2018-11-05 20:59:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11021490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaitlynisamused/pseuds/kaitlynisamused
Summary: Just after Zuko's Agni Kai with Azula, Zuko and Katara help one another heal.





	Healing

Zuko and Katara watched Azula flail pitifully on the ground, fire bursting from her mouth like a captured dragon. They’d won. They were safe now, but it was bitter sweet. 

Helping Zuko to stand, Katara wiped away her tears, supporting him with her weight as they turned away from his sister. “Help me! We need to get him inside.”

“But… what do we do with the princess?”

It was a good question. Banishment or death seemed like a fitting punishment for all Azula had done, but Zuko had a good heart. Glancing back at his sister, he saw a sad, broken girl that hadn’t lived the same life he had. She hadn’t had Iroh to teach her right from wrong; there was no buffer from their father’s insatiable power struggle. Turning back to the men, he held his side, thinking hard on it before deciding. 

“Take care of her. Make sure she can’t hurt anyone else… or herself.” 

One of the men went to Zuko’s other side, helping Katara lead him inside and down the halls to his room. The power change had been nearly instantaneous. It was a pretty big shock, at least to her. That their allegiance could change so quickly after a single battle was frightening. Right now, Katara didn’t have the time or energy to voice an opinion though. She was just glad they were willing to help.

Resting Zuko on his back, she shuddered at the blood red sheets, along with the blood red decorations. It didn’t seem like a very happy room; it didn’t have many personal items at all. He’d been banished for a long time, she reminded herself, brushing his hair back and pressing a hand to his forehead. Warm, but not feverish. Her healing had helped his body to calm before it could go into shock from the searing heat of the lightening.

“I’ll need some time alone with him,” she ordered, grabbing the dish and water jug from the nightstand, “Make sure Azula is taken care of.”

The man bowed, leaving the two alone. Before, the atmosphere between them had been friendly but stressed. Now, they’d both saved each other. They’d both worked together to find her mother’s killer. If there was one thing they could be certain about now, it was that they cared for one another.

“Hold still,” Katara murmured, wrapping her hands in the water and focusing on her ability to heal. 

Zuko reached out, holding her arm to stop her. “I’m fine. I’ve suffered worse in the past even without your healing. You’ve done more than enough for me Katara.”

“Stop it. You can rely on me.”

“Th-that’s not what I…” His brow furrowed, squirming a bit, but then relaxing, holding her hand closer to show she could do what she wanted. “I’m not used to it.”

“Used to what?” she asked, already starting to work on the healing process again. Her hands glowed softly, like a nightlight, casting beautiful shadows across his face. Zuko had sharp features; Katara had never really been this close before to notice.

Thinking, he kept a hold of her wrist, brushing small circles across it with his thumb. “I’m not used to accepting help from someone I’ve hurt. I owe a lot to you, you shouldn’t be helping me this much.” 

Katara’s fingers brushed gently against the sensitive skin of his stomach, now healed enough to be able to take it. Without even thinking about it, he shuddered, looking away with a blush. “We’ve gone over this… it wasn’t you who hurt me.” 

By the time she turned away from her work, putting the water away into the bowl, Zuko was sitting up, acting like he was getting ready to leave. “Oh no. No no no, I didn’t say you could leave! You get back here!” Crawling up on the bed, they wrestled a bit back and forth, him trying to stand and her trying to make him lay down. 

The result was Zuko’s head in her lap. It happened almost naturally, and he blushed harder, not sure how to hide his face when she was looking down at him directly from above. So he gave up on that venture, instead studying her as she gently combed her fingers through his hair. Katara was blushing too, and wow, somehow it made her even more beautiful than before. 

The first things he noticed were her eyes, and the way they contrasted so beautifully with the dark reds and browns of his room. Then her long lashes, and how they brushed against the tops of her cheeks when she blinked. He focused on a lot of things, eventually resting his eyes on her lips. They curved like tendrils of water, plump and perfect. 

I want to kiss her, he thought, before realizing that was insane and-!

She was kissing him. It was slow, and yet, in his mind it happened so quickly he almost couldn’t process it. Automatically he reached up to push her away. It was just a reflex reaction! He hadn’t been expecting it!

“I-I didn’t mean-“

“I know.” Katara leaned back in, giving him a moment to take it in before kissing him again, this time much slower and gentler. 

Zuko’s world was falling apart and coming together all at the same time. His sister had tried to kill him, his father was off fighting the avatar, he was… going to be Fire Lord, and he wasn’t even certain he had everything it took to heal the nations. Yet as Katara kissed him, she healed him in more ways than one. It was comfort, assurance, and forgiveness. 

Sitting up, he turned to give Katara more attention, and this time, she pushed him back, a bit more gently. “Your wound…” Her eyes traveled down his chest to the mostly healed burn. It would scar too, just like his face, but it was a part of his story. He wasn’t ashamed to have scars anymore, and Katara didn’t seem to mind them as much as the idea that she might hurt him.

“I-it doesn’t hurt,” he assured, “See?” Taking her hand, he pressed it there gently, letting that distraction be enough to capture those lips again. 

She smelled like smoke and sweat, having just come out of an intense battle with his sister, and he hated himself for having brought her into it. Guilt wracked him, imagining what could have happened if he hadn’t protected her in time. Katara had been able to heal him, but Zuko highly doubted even she would have been talented and skilled enough to heal herself. 

“Thank you,” Katara whispered again, touching their foreheads together and holding him closer. They were both a bit awkward and inexperienced with each other, but he responded, and it felt good. It felt like a beginning. 

“We make a good team,” he responded, going to hold onto her hips but stopping himself, not sure how much was too much in the heat of the moment. His hands lingered awkwardly before finally resting more appropriately on her waist. Team. Right. Yeah. Good team. Oops this is awkward… 

She was good natured and kind though, and she could tell how hard he was trying. Pressing a sweet kiss to the scar by his eye, Katara smiled. “Yeah, we do don’t we?” 

They were about to dive into one another again when a knock on the door tugged them both back to reality. Blushing, fumbling for words or actions or something, Katara pushed him back down on the bed, tucking him in the best she could. “R-rest and relax, ok? We’ll have another healing session later, once we’ve both had time to recover.” 

Zuko had a goofy grin on his face. He couldn’t help it! Hiding it with his hand, glancing away, he coughed to cover up the happiness in his voice. “Y-yeah, ok, I can do that…”

**Author's Note:**

> I think this is going to be at least a few chapters! I've got a lot of ideas, and I really love this pairing! Thanks to @dulcet-reblogs for the prompt, and I really hope you guys like it!
> 
> (If you have any suggestions or prompts, please feel free to leave a comment as well! I'm always open to ideas, I like to make you guys happy!)


End file.
